Back among the living…

Hello again, blog nation. Went to Vegas last weekend and caught something bad. Thankfully it was just the flu.
But seriously, did I tell you I hate Vegas? Let’s start with the fact that about 89.9 percent of the guys there wear striped shirts. You know, those “Hey, I’m going out on the big town tonight, so it’s time to break out my black print shirt with red and gold stripes. Look out ladies.”

In fact, I only noticed this after reading a hilarious new book called “Look at My Striped Shirt!”, by Phat Phree (the real author name on the cover). It’s a parody of all those annoying people in the world, written as if they were done in the first person. Let me read you a bit from the chapter of the same book title:
“Look at my button-down striped shirt! I will valet tonight! I will treat the valet with contempt and make sure that he knows that I am superior to him in life! I will tell him, ‘take it easy on the brakes, champ! I will talk to people I don’t know about my job tonight! They will all know that I am an important man! I will call all female bartenders ‘babe’ and all male bartenders ‘chief!’
Those were the clean parts. Sound like some guys you’ve seen? Me too. Now excuse me, I have lots of striped shirts to burn.

To me, Vegas is just one big conveyor belt of men in their striped shirts and women in the kinds of outfits you know they’ve been waiting all year to wear. Then, everybody just passes by each other on cheap carpeting as the sounds of chiming slot machine bells ring along, gandering at each other before slinking back to their hotel rooms for one last shot of Jag.

But the game between the Avs and Kings is always pretty good. First of all, everybody shows up half drunk, so it’s a lively crowd before the first puck drops. There were girls in bikinis in a hot tub behind the goal. There were Kings fans outnumbering the Avs ones by about 10-1 (it’s their home game, and Kings season ticket holders get a special deal on the game, and if you’re a Los Angeles Kings fan, this HAS to be the highlight of your year).

That doesn’t mean there weren’t plenty of Avs fans, including a special one. Her name is Trisha, and she’s a die-hard Avs fan. She’s showed up to previous Vegas games, and even though she doesn’t live in Denver, gets to plenty of games here. She even came to a book signing of mine for “Blood Feud”, so here’s a special shout out to her.

Here are some thoughts of mine as the regular-season nears. Despite my invalid state of the last few days, I’ve still been watching. For starters:
– I think T.J. Hensick should be a lock to start the season with the Avs. With Brad Richardson out with a bad left wrist, Hensick should survive the final cuts. Still, the Avs’ usual M.O. is to play it conservative with rookies, usually preferring they get some seasoning in at the minors. But, I don’t know, I think I’d rather have him than a journeyman like Wyatt Smith in my lineup. I don’t care if Smith played 61 games for the Wild last year, I want guys that have talent, who aren’t just pluggers. That said, Smith might be a great guy for this team, but don’t drop Hensick because of him only needing a roster spot. If he gets off to as good a start as he’s had in most of the preseason, he might even stick around. He’s got fast hands and is just a natural scorer and playmaker. His defense needs some work, but I think the kid is going to be a solid 60-70 point guy eventually, at least.
– Paul Stastny, if he stays healthy, is going to get 100 points. Forget about just people his age, he looks miles ahead of most everybody on the ice already.
– Ryan Smyth and Andrew Brunette look a little uncomfortable with each other on the same line. Things might work out just fine eventually, but for now they both seem to be struggling with Joe Sakic. They both play very similar games, and great lines usually occur when every player is a little different and all complement each other with things the other doesn’t have.
– Peter Budaj still worries me a little. The games don’t count, of course, but some of the goals against him have been softer than the stuff that comes out of the machines at Dairy Queen. He’ll be the big question mark all year long for the Avs – at least when it comes to “Are they a Stanley Cup contender or not?” and his play so far hasn’t seemed to have improved over a year ago.
– Jaroslav Hlinka is going to be one of those guys that nobody notices, but at the end of the year he’ll have 50-60 points, especially if he plays a lot with Stastny.

One more exhibition tomorrow against the Coyotes, and they start counting for real. So leave the striped shirts at home, throw on a hockey jersey and let’s get going.

Adrian Dater’s best-selling book, “Blood Feud: Detroit Red Wings v. Colorado Avalanche; The Inside Story of Pro Sports’ Nastiest and Best Rivalry of its Era” is available in bookstores and at Amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com

His forthcoming book, “Denver Broncos: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” is available for pre-order now at Amazon.com